


Aftermath of Mischief

by Lavlis, noneislefttoprotest



Series: Bats and Spiders [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Enemies to Friends, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29401809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavlis/pseuds/Lavlis, https://archiveofourown.org/users/noneislefttoprotest/pseuds/noneislefttoprotest
Summary: This is what happens when you decide to pretend to the cameras, a little bit of mischief can start snowball to another. Arachne and Dig didn't think much of when they pretended to be a couple in front of the cameras, now they had to stick to the act.
Relationships: Arachne Myriad & Dig Iwatani
Series: Bats and Spiders [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157255
Kudos: 1





	Aftermath of Mischief

Arachne looked over the Iwatani mansion one last time before deciding to get out. She looked over her shoulder to Gregory, her driver, giving him a sign to leave, the man nodded and rolled up the windows. She turned, fear was ghosting her shoulders, because that wasn’t going to be a business meeting, that would be more… casual, in a sense.

But it felt many times more threatening.

Each step she gave to the door she checked on things on her head, from her attire, to her hairstyle and words. Plans, she needed some kind of backup plan if things went south, she knew that something bad would happen if Mr. Iwatani found out.

She waited by the door examining the decoration around the entrance, everything was perfectly cut, not a single leaf out of place. The japanese styled patio sent off a peaceful energy that was unable to reach her.

The doors opened, a butler was holding the handle on the other side, he slightly bowed his head greeting her.

“Welcome to the Iwatani Household. May I take your coat, Miss Myriad?” The man glanced at her sideways, she let the blazer slide off her shoulders and handed it to him, he folded it carefully on his arm. “If you’d like to accompany me, I will show you the way to where they are waiting.”

“I would appreciate that.” She said elevating her head a little.

“Follow me.” He said.

He guided her across the foyer, she glanced around amused, the decoration was very well chosen. The butler stepped aside when they reached the living room’s door, she walked in and was welcomed by the most deceiving sight. 

Mr Iwatani was wearing his typical clothes, a suit very lightly checkered, his wife was wearing a long green dress, Dig was wearing a suit also lighter than his father’s, which seemed appropriate in her opinion. The most differences were seen in Ebb and Fathom, the girl was wearing a black dress with embroidered flowers and tulle, it reached her knees, while the other boy was wearing a dull colored sweater on top of a social white shirt. The family was scattered around the room, and only Dig seemed to be aware that she was coming in at first. She smiled at him, taking the surroundings.

Very modern and minimalistic. There was even a family picture on top of the stairs, showing them as a perfect family. She knew it was far from the truth, a picture of chains would suit any business family much more.

“Arachne! What a pleasure to have you here!” Dig exclaimed, with a smile and a tone she could tell were faked. He moved to hug her, and in the hug he whispered to her “Time to put on a show again”.

She smiled mischievously, there were few things on her mind to put on a show, but she decided to follow the most deceiving of them. She tightened the hug a little, not to wrinkle his suit and slightly tiptoed to whisper on his ear.

“Always.” She smiled. “It’s so nice to see you again this soon!” She said louder and kissed his cheek, backing away from the hug she slid her hands on his sleeves to hold his hands.

“Miss Myriad, it’s a joy to finally encounter you in a casual setting, and as my son’s suitor at that!” Mr. Iwatani exclaimed, approaching to shake her hand.

She grinned, not letting her annoyance show and shook it, like she did the first time they had met. She kept one hand on Dig’s, intertwining their fingers, and that wasn’t because she felt threatened.

The hostess was the next one to introduce herself, with her perfect hair and makeup aiding on her masquerade of a happy wife. “I’m Tomiko Iwatani, welcome to our house. I take it you already know my middle child, Fathom, as he studies at the University as well?”

Fathom approached her, pointedly not looking at his brother and with a hardness shaping his soft features in a way that had never manifested when he was away from the family. “Arachne. I’m glad to finally know the truth about your relationship.”

“It’s a pleasure seeing you outside of university.” She narrowed her eyes. “How is Sailor doing?”

“She’s good.” He answered, noncommittally. “She’s been having a lot of tests, so we aren’t seeing each other as much.”

“And my youngest, Ebb.” The teenager - not too much younger than Arachne herself, really - pulled her in for a quick and aloof hug.

“Hi. Never thought I’d see the day Dig would bring... a girl home.”

Hiroto directed a glare at his daughter.

“Uh, I mean, it’s nice to meet you.” She muttered, and quickly shuffled away, standing awkwardly next to her mother.

“Indeed, it’s nice to meet you.” She stepped back closer to Dig instinctively. He squeezed her hand in tension.

Hiroto clapped his hands loudly. “Well, the meal isn’t ready yet - I hope you enjoy  _ prosciutto di Parma _ , so let’s have a little chat while we wait, shall we?” He gestured towards the sofas facing the unlit fireplace.

She nodded. “Of course.”

While they all hesitantly moved to the sitting area, Dig leaned over and whispered to her “Did you hear anything from Hypnos?”

“He blocked me, remember?” She whispered back. “And it’s not like I can invade his house.”

He shrugged as an answer.

“So, Ms. Myriad, what led you two to get together now?” Mrs. Iwatani asked, waving over a servant to bring them all champagne.

“I think...” She looked over to the blond, trying to pick the right words. “The university group helped a lot.” She said finally leaving it on the air.

“Ah, yes, someone created a group chat with most of the students on campus. That’s where we first… connected, I think.” He looked at her with a smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes. Fathom sighed, but said nothing.

“We talked a bit there before the first date.” She touched the back of her hand on his. “And after some... chatting. We decided to have dinner together.”

“And here we are, because that dinner was the one the photographer caught us in.”

Tomiko smiled. “That’s so sweet. Stories of young love really warm my heart, don’t they, honey?”

“Yes, yes, I must say, I was worried when Dig came back home in the back of a man’s motorcycle, but the very morning after I saw the wonderful news of your relationship on the news and it quelled all my fears.” 

Dig squeezed Arachne’s hand again. Fathom raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, are you talking about...” Arachne froze up for a second. “The Blair heir? He is quite an interesting person to talk to.” Before he blocked her, that is.

“Yes, the three of them are close friends. They hung out together quite a lot until today, when he needed to leave for a family emergency.” Fathom commented, drily, and took a champagne flute from the servant’s tray. “Please, help yourself to one.” he added.

If that boy ruined the night with that, Arachne  _ would kill him _ .

“It is more than appropriate for young business heirs to fraternize - what there needs to be is a level of appropriateness, you know? Men acting like men and women acting like women.” Mr. Iwatani said, with a laugh, looking for agreement from his family and guest. Ebb and Fathom chuckled, clearly out of politeness.

Arachne held back a snort, the man seemed to forget he was talking to  _ her _ , she had spent just as many business meetings with him as his associates.

“And how would you describe that a woman should act?” She questioned crossing her legs and staring at his eyes.

_ ‘I dare you say it.’ _

Ebb snorted so quietly Arachne wouldn’t have heard it if she wasn’t sitting so close to her.

“A woman should be pleasant and easy on the eyes,” he started, and his wife drank her champagne a little too fast for proper society. “She should be determined, but delicate and know her place. A working woman is fine, it’s an impressive display of independence and strength - but women were made to be mothers, and so they should know when to stop and follow the laws of nature. Does that answer your question?”

“It’s very good to see that your answer changed in those last couple of years.” She drank a sip of the champagne. “I remember you denied to have a meeting with me the first time.”

“Yes, yes, a few years can do wonders for a way of thinking. As business owners, we should change with the times, don’t you agree?”

“Indeed, if the business doesn’t change… ” She spun her glass a little. “It is fated to fail.”

“Exactly. I’m glad we share a mentality.”

_ ‘In your dreams. _ ’

A servant rang a bell. “I apologize for the interruption, but I am here to inform the family and our esteemed guest that the dinner is ready.” She smiled and bowed her head, and ducked back into the dining room.

“Well, shall we?” Mrs. Iwatani invited. A silent servant collected their flutes, some completely empty, some still half-full, as they all followed to the dining room. Ebb handed her cellphone to the woman standing next to the table.

There were silver platters on top of the table, with appetizers, salads and the main course. All hidden under various cloches, the smell was delicious.

They took their places - Mr. Iwatani at the head of the table, his wife sitting on his right, facing Fathom. Arachne was next to him, facing Dig, who was sitting between his mother and his sister.

The servant who called them to dinner uncovered the appetizer plates, revealing food. She announced “Have a good meal”, and left them.

Arachne counted, she was too used to eating alone and that was too much food. She stared at the tableware for a moment, porcelain plates with the family’s crest in the middle. She held her breath, the Iwatani household had very different customs from her family, or rather, herself. Since her family was no longer.

They ate silently, only occasionally making small talk over the food. Each course seemed to last forever. Fathom's loathsome aura didn’t help her appetite either, together with the fact that with every bite her memories made her get closer to her life prior ‘guardianship’, as if the chains that came with a family of power were slowly coming back.

And she  _ hated it. _

When they finished the dessert, she just wanted to leave as soon as possible, but the etiquette made her stay in place.

“The meal was delicious.” Arachne smiled, as the servants took away the dirty dishes from the table.

“The best cooks from the other side of the planet.” Hiroto complimented. “Dig, son, let me take you to the sunroom - let’s have a man-to-man conversation, yes?”

Dig looked slightly desperate. “Yes, let’s - excuse me.” he said before leaving the table and following his father, who put a friendly arm around his shoulders.

“Not to leave you kids alone, but I need to go to the washroom for a really quick second. Excuse me.” Mrs. Iwatani left.

The aura in the room shifted as she felt both the siblings stare at her.

“It was a nice meal.” She narrowed her eyes looking at the siblings. “Don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Was it worth it?” Fathom finally snapped, venom coating his voice.

Ebb looked quizzically at her brother. He just tilted his head in a way that meant he would explain later.

“The whole idea was your brother’s, I just thought it would be… Amusing.”

“Yeah, because he’s an  _ idiot _ .” he hissed. “You enabled him, and now  _ he _ has a broken fucking heart.”

Ebb raised her eyebrows, suddenly seeming to get it. “You’re talking about Hypnos Blair, aren’t you.”

“Of course we are.” Arachne rolled her eyes and let her posture slump, she didn’t have to be in business with them.

“What the fuck. What did you think was going to be the end result of this?”

“Look, I would never think that business magazine would resort to teenage gossip.” She snorted.

“You knew about the cameras. It was going to come out eventually. My brother-” Fathom angrily leaned in.

“He was the first to notice! I was going to finish the dinner there and  _ maybe _ talk to him later, but...”

“What do you think is going to happen to him after this!? He’s been repressing everything he’s ever felt for years, and now  _ you’ve _ helped him drive away the one person who was undoing all of that through sheer  _ fucking _ magic.”

She leaned closer to him.

“What do you think I was doing? I was trying to get those two idiots together. Wasn’t the cold bath clue enough?” She tightened her fist and hit it on the table. “But then the dinner happened and I literally couldn’t think of anything until yesterday! Do you think  _ I  _ want to spend more time with your father? I hate him just as much as you!”

“I don’t know!” Fathom exclaimed, leaning back on his chair. “I don’t think that is your goal, I think your goal is to get as many people miserable as possible. That's your business model. That’s what you do, that’s all I’ve ever known you to do. You haven’t disproven that until now.”

She threw her hands to the air. “Right. Yes, you’re right. Is that you want to hear? I don’t care for people, they don’t care for me so why should I?” She blurted out without thinking. “I started talking with your brother _last week_. And guess what? He is the second person I talked to the most in my life!” She ran her fingers through her hair. “ _And I_ _hate that_.”

“That’s what this shitty aristocratic life is like.” Ebb shrugged. “Doesn’t excuse using people like toys.”

“Exactly! And you better hope Hypnos is smart enough to not do anything too stupid, to offset how dumb he was to fall for Dig. Hope that anything stupid that he does is fixable, for the good of  _ your _ conscience.”

“Fuck my conscience.” Arachne grunted. “Because that’s the last thing you should worry about.”

“Yeah, of course his safety matters more,  _ what _ ? I can’t help but hope this doesn’t fuck  _ you _ up, because you’re too young to have that on your shoulders. We’re all too fucking young for this.”

“No one cares.” She sighed. “I promise you something, this shitty situation will not backfire on Dig in any way, shape or form.”

He sighed. “I guess not. But it won’t change that he was on the right track to be happy for once in his life, and who knows if he’ll get that opportunity again.” Fathom said, less angry than before.

“As soon as I have the pieces in place.”

“Right. Your pieces. Your web. Right, right.” he said.

“Umm, guys, I didn’t want to interrupt the yelling, but mom snuck into the kitchen a little bit ago, so I think we should… wind down. Shut up. Both of you.” Ebb said, as politely as she could.

Arachne widened her eyes, taking off her hair tie and trying to make the perfect ponytail again. If she was disheveled, they would know for  _ sure _ that something happened and  _ no one  _ wanted that.

Fathom took her lead and smoothed his hands through his hair, though he clearly didn’t care enough about it looking perfect. Ebb reached over and tucked a stray hair away.

“Great to see you kids are talking!” Mrs. Iwatani exclaimed, coming in from the kitchen with a whole new glass with a completely different drink inside. The siblings took a glance at each other, clearly familiar with their mother’s coping mechanism. “How are you doing? Arachne, darling. You’ve barely talked about yourself tonight, talk about something you like. You kids wanna go to the game room? The TV room? Whatever makes you comfortable, dear.” she shrugged, and took another long sip of her new drink.

_ ‘I want to leave.’  _ Arachne thought.

“I think that the living room would be the most preferable, the seats were very comfortable.” She glanced at the others slightly confused. “I think it would be better to… share some stories there.”

The laughter preceding a tipsy Hiroto Iwatani was a good sign for once. Dig had a small smile on his face.

“That’s what I thought!" the patriarch exclaimed. “How has the chat gone over here?”

“Just peachy, dad.” Ebb responded, not being sarcastic for once.

“Great, great. You were going into the living room, I overheard? Keep the party going!”

Dig caught Arachne’s eye, and understood what she was thinking.

“Actually, dad… We have class early tomorrow, I think it would be better for Arachne to call her driver and go home already, right?”

“Oh, so soon, so soon…” He lamented. “But your studies are important after all. Dig, be a gentleman and wait with her in the foyer.” He winked, making almost everyone cringe.

“That is true.” Arachne got up and walked over to resting her hand on Dig’s arm. “Thank you so much for the invitation.” She said, staring at Hiroto.

“Visit again soon!” Tomiko answered for him. Dig shared a look with his siblings and took her through the house into the foyer. As soon as they got there and out of view of his family, he leaned against the wall, exhausted.

“I am so sorry.”

“Is it under your control?” She questioned, pressing her temple. “If it’s not, you don’t have to apologize.”

“I know. I just… Fathom was yelling, wasn’t he.”

“Both of us.” She sighed. “Your sister wasn’t.” She picked up her phone and sent a quick message to Gregory, asking him to come pick her up.

He chuckled. “That’s a first. I don’t understand why he’s so angry at  _ me _ , but it does not feel good. I mean. It’s Fathom.”

“He just needs some time to cool off.” She glanced at him. “Can I get my coat?”

Almost out of nowhere the servant appeared handling it to her, she put on the blazer relaxing against the thick fabric, the blouse she was using was too feminine for her.

“Well, there you go. I am not looking forward to whatever discussion we have after he’s cooled off. His first reaction to the picture was to call me an ‘ _ inconsiderate idiot’ _ to my face.”

She chuckled lightly. “Let me give you this before I forget.” She picked a small package from her blazer’s inner pocket. “Here you go.” She handed it to him.

“Oh, thank you. From Romania, right?” he commented, unwrapping it.

“Bran’s castle, in specific.” She looked over at him to observe his reaction. “I hope you like cufflinks.”

“They’re beautiful. Thank you.” He smiled earnestly at her, and put the gift in his pocket. He looked over to where his whole family was, hearing their voices carrying down the hall. “I don’t look forward to going back to them.”

“Next time, if they insist, let’s do it at my house. We will be alone.” She shrugged. “I can make you the only dish I don't burn.”

“Sure. That would be nicer than… whatever tonight just was.”

“A lot.” She slipped. “Sorry. It wasn’t bad, interacting isn’t really my thing.”

“That’s fair.”

Her phone rang, she looked at the notification, Gregory was just arriving at the condominium.

“He is almost here.” She notified Dig. “I will get going.”

“Alright. Text me when you get home.”

He hesitated, and pulled her into a quick hug.

“I… Thank you for dealing with them. Even though it wasn’t easy.”

She returned the hug. “You and… the brats helped.” She stepped away smiling. “Talk to you tomorrow.”

He opened the door for her. “Yeah. Goodbye.”

She kept her composure until the car left the neighborhood. She hunched over her knees and let out a sob. She felt her driver’s eyes lingering on her every red light, but the sobbings just wouldn’t stop, she wasn’t even crying.

_ She hated it. _

The family pressure that had all over that house, that made unwanted memories resurface.

_ She hated it _ .

That she let her emotions slip because things were getting out of her control and she had never had so many people involved.

_ She hated it. _

That she would rather suffer for months along than seeing Dig suffer by his family.

“Almost at your stop, miss.”

She breathed deeply and sat back, her face was the most neutral it could be at the moment, her lip still quivered from the meltdown. The car pulled to a stop and she went to her apartment, all the lights were out, she didn’t bother turning them on. It was one of the few places she knew by heart.

She picked up her phone.

_ Arachne: I’m home _

_ Dig: I’m glad. _

_ Dig: How are you doing? Emotionally _

_ Dig: Because I’ll confess that I’m not doing great. _

How could he be so sweet? She smiled sadly and typed a response.

_ Arachne: Well _

_ Arachne: if you confessed to me _

_ Arachne: i must confess i’m also not feeling very good _

_ Dig: yeah _

_ Dig: It’ll all feel better in the morning _

_ Dig: Or let’s hope so anyway. _

_ Arachne: let’s _

_ Arachne: sleep well _

She turned off her phone before he could reply, she breathed deeply and undressed, laying on her bed and curling on her blankets. 

It was so empty.

She closed her eyes and the tears started falling, for the first time in years she allowed herself to do it. Crying mostly because she realized that of all things that could happen.

_ She cared for him _ .

Little did she know that miles away, in the house that she had left, the cause of her tears was also crying himself to sleep.

  
  



End file.
